“Sadie has definitely been known to make some matches in her family,” he said. “Is that what you’re worried about?” Maybe he wasn’t the only one with concerns about why her lawyer had been invited.
She glanced across the console at him. “I’m not worried about that. I can’t imagine they would want to set me up with anyone in their family.”
“You have to stop putting yourself down,” Brett said. “Everybody understands why you couldn’t come back for your dad’s funeral, and they also understand about the will.”
“What about them?” she asked as she rubbed her belly.
“My family loves babies,” he said. “Your pregnancy is another reason they wouldloveto match you up with someone in the family.” So maybe he didn’t have to worry about them trying to match her up with the lawyer. But what about him?
He was the last Lemmon bachelor.
That realization should have scared him, but he didn’t feel anything but relief that they probably wouldn’t be trying to match her up with Stokes.
She emitted a wistful-sounding sigh. “Your family is so different from mine.”
“That’s a good thing,” he said.
“It is.”
He reached across the console and touched her hand. “I’m sorry that I didn’t step in more when your mother and ex visited. But you were handling it so well…” In the moment. But they had still affected her. Too much.
“You already step in so much to help me, Brett,” she said, and she turned her hand over and entwined her fingers with his. “And I appreciate that, but I also appreciated that you trusted me to handle them myself that day.”
He gently squeezed her fingers. “And you did. And Stokes told you that you don’t have to worry about them getting part of the ranch. It’s all good. Let’s just enjoy your party.”
He parked near the old schoolhouse Sadie had moved from town years ago when the city had been about to tear it down. There were already so many vehicles in the driveway that it was the closest he could park to the main house. He ran around the front of his truck to open the door for Trish and help her out. But she hesitated for a moment as she studied all the trucks and cars.
“How big is this party?” she asked, her voice nearly a whisper, as if she was worried someone might overhear her.
“These are probably just the vehicles of the people who live here,” he said. “It’s a big family.” He remembered how overwhelmed he’d been on his first visit here and even on his last for his grandfather’s birthday party.
Her light brown eyes widened with surprise. “And I thought we had a lot of people living at the Four Corners.”
He laughed. “Not even close to Ranch Haven. This is a busy place. Loud. Full of kids and animals.”
“Are you warning me?” she asked.
He nodded. “Are you up for this?”
She drew in a deep breath, then nodded. She put her hand in his, and as he helped her down from the truck, something swelled in his heart. “You look beautiful today,” he said, the words just slipping out of him at how lovely she looked in her pale green dress and sandals.
“I didn’t think I should wear my bibs to a party,” she said. She touched her curls with her free hand. “And I made sure to get all the straw out of my hair.”
With his free hand, he touched her soft curls. “I don’t think you missed any.”
She really was beautiful. So beautiful that she nearly took his breath away. He wanted to kiss her so badly that he leaned down a bit, his face so close to hers that he could smell the mint of her breath.
The way she stared up at him with her gaze intent on his mouth made him think that she might want him to kiss her. But they had both agreed, after their kiss on the hayride, that they couldn’t risk their partnership getting awkward over this attraction. Because both had vowed to stay single, it couldn’t lead to anything but disappointment and heartbreak.
But Brett had begun to rethink his vow. Liam was proving that he could work hard on the ranch and maintain his wife and child as priorities, too. He and his family were thriving. So it was possible to have it all like Liam.
Still, Trish wasn’t likely to believe that, especially after that visit from her mom and her ex that had reminded her of how miserable her marriage had been. And he wasn’t about to put any pressure on her now, not when she was already so stressed from their visit. Just because he’d changed his mind didn’t mean that she would. Ever.
* * *
For a second, when Brett had helped her out of the truck, Trish had thought he might kiss her. And she’d really wanted him to kiss her.
But then he’d pulled back.
